Broken in Half - Avengers

Chapter 15 - The Ghost

Ashen hair whipped in the evening wind that chilled her bones and ruffled her dress. Soft flakes of snow fell onto her shoulders, and melted on the gauze wrapped around her arms. El sat on the railing of the roof, waiting for them to figure out she was gone. She didn't care if they worried, or got scared, or mad. She didn't really care about anything anymore.
The chime of metal on the rail made her whip around, before gazing longingly back out onto the skyline of New York in the distance. "Hi Bucky."
"Hi El. They told me what happened. You okay?"
"As ever, Buck. If the others know I'm here, why aren't they out here?"
"They wanted to give you space, El, to figure things out on your own."
El glanced back at him, fear, anger, longing, and everything in between locked in her eyes. "I've got to go, El. I'm not supposed to be out of containment for too long." He gave her hand a tight squeeze, snowflakes on his arm, and walked back inside.
She sat on the rail until her fingers turned numb and the morning sun kissed her face, igniting her dark, dull eyes. El stood, and quickly grasped the rail to keep herself from falling over. She stayed like that for a few more seconds, before collecting herself and jumping back over the rail, balancing on the edge of the concrete roof. Pointing her toes, and taking a breath, she jumped.
Landing on the small balcony, Elytra opened the glass door, quietly shutting it behind her. She slipped her dress off, leaving it along with her sock, and gloves in a pile on the floor. Walking into the bathroom, she turned the shower knob and stepped under the scorching hot water, letting it tinge her skin pink. El slid onto the shower floor, letting her emotions take control, and she cried.
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Thud. Thud. Thud.
Knifes shred the surface of the dummies, mauling their canvas bodies. Music was the only thing keeping her focused on her task, grounded.
"I could never find the right way to tell you..."
Hands slipped into her belt, pulling out another pair of blades.
"Have you noticed I've been gone?"
El's eyes narrowed, locked on her target.
"Cause I left behind the home that you made me..."
Ice grew over metal.
"But I will carry it along."
The dummy fell to the ground, engulfed in tendrils of ice.
"And it's a long way forward, so trust in me..."
Her eyes shone a striking, dangerous blue.
"I'll give them shelter, like you've done for me."
Wisps of frost swirled around her hands, and an assortment of knives fell into a wall of ice behind her.
"And I know, I'm not alone..."
The blades positioned themselves towards the last target dummy, standing solemnly in the middle of the floor.
"You'll be watching over us, until you're gone."
It fell to the floor as a shower of knives rained down on it, turning the red symbol blue.
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The floor was unreasonably cold as the ghost of a girl made her way to the kitchen, ignoring the stone sets of eyes that locked onto her from the couch as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. She was especially weary of her uncle, who's gaze she could feel melting through her.
With shaking hands, she formed ice tendrils to get things out of the cabinets and fridge for her, as it would take too long to get the items herself. El hoisted herself onto a stool beside the bar, and picked up a spoon. You could hear a pin drop as she tied her hair back with a rubber band, and put an assortment of things into a bowl.
About half an hour later, there was flour on the floor from when she had spilled it, curse her trembling hands. Whispers stirred from the lounge, but she pushed them to the back of her mind and brushed her bangs out of her eyes, smearing buttercream frosting on her forehead.
The oven let out a beep, causing the girl to flinch before grabbing a mitt off the counter and putting the four round cakes on the counter. Ice wrapped around the pans, and steam rose to the ceiling as they cooled. El took each one out of the pan and iced it, stacking them on top of one another. She had just slid the last layer on the stack when she felt a presence behind her, watching. Peter.
No one else could have snuck up on her like that, and she felt something hanging from the ceiling, rather than standing. El took a spoonful of icing and turned around, sticking it in his mouth before he could speak. He licked it, before commenting, "Not bad. Could use more...red, and less...black."
"Very funny, Peter." Scooping the icing into a bag, she briskly cut off the tip and squeezed black patterns on the white sheets of frosting. Finishing the cursive lettering on the top of the cake, and the spiral designs on the sides, El stepped back to admire her work. The four-tiered cake stood tall on the counter, and didn't collapse as she quickly cut two pieces, one a significant amount larger than the other, and walked into the elevator.
When she left, the Avengers quickly crowded the kitchen, around El's latest creation. She had taken slices from the bottom of the cake, leaving alone the cursive writing on the top tier. Steve sucked in a breath, and read, "Happy Birthday Buck, love, El"
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The doctors, scientists, and nurses were silent as the pale ghost entered their lab, setting one of the pieces of cake on a table, and balancing the other on slender fingers. They held their breath, as the girl flicked out her wings, and hesitantly said, "Let him out."
Of course everyone knew who she was, but had never seen the newest Avenger until this moment. They certainly hadn't expected her to come down to see the Winter Soldier. One of the doctors snapped out of his trance, and briefly motioned for the others to leave before pressed a large red button on the panel in front of him. "You have ten minutes." He said, walking into the elevator.
Elytra took a breath as the frost melted off the glass, and the cylinder broke in two, and large grey eyes stared back at her. He slowly looked down at the cake in her hands, and smiled. She managed a small, shy grin. "March tenth, happy birthday Buck."